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March 6, 2022 3 Mins Read
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Everything About Dried Food - Erakina

Introduction

How many of us have cringed at the red inside of an apple, after it has been cut? And how many of us have eaten it anyway, thinking, “Only moisture, the apple is not bad”? I think many of us have experienced this, even with fruits and food other than apples. But, have we all tried to know the age old solution to this? Well, it is what we call food dehydration, more commonly known as, the process of drying food. Now, dry fruits and dried food are not the same. The process of drying food is an external process that has only evolved with time. This process bores our dry food

Drying Food - History

  • Drying food is one of the oldest known ways to preserve food for mankind.
  • Preserving meat, fish, and food plants by drying them in the sun or by drying natural air from deserts and mountains have been practiced since ancient times.
  • It is still an important activity in the lives of many rural communities.
  • But despite the importance of dehydration as an industrial activity and recent advances in dehydration research, the visible mechanisms of complex events that occur during dehydration and dehydration are not fully understood.

Drying Food - A Conservation Strategy

  • Drying is a method of storing food by extracting water from food, which prevents the growth of germs and has been practiced all over the world since ancient times.
  • When dehydration, as a means of preserving food, was invented is unknown, but the first known dehydration practice began around 12,000 BC.
  • The first food-drying workers are expected to be residents of the Middle East and modern-day Asia.
  • In modern times, drying the food has actually become another method of canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. Canning is what is commonly called a “bottle” in the United Kingdom.

Modern Equipment for Drying Food

  • Food dehydrator
  • Convection oven
  • Normal oven
  • Sunlight, of course

Food Dehydrator - Features For Drying Food

  • A food dehydrator is a quick way to dry food.
  • It is a very efficient, high-quality product and the safest resource for a process like drying food, which took a long time during the old days.
  • It has a double wall construction of high quality metal or plastic. Wood is obviously not recommended, as it is a fire hazard and difficult to clean.
  • Put heaters in it.
  • Countertop design with fan or blower
  • Closed thermostat from 85ºF to 160ºF.
  • Tracks with 4 to 10 spaces are made of durable, lightweight plastic for easy washing.
  • UL Certificate of Authorization.
  • Temperature control dial (lower models have default temperature settings only).
  • Normally the finished drying time can occur at night and the timer can shut off the dehydrator and prevent overheating and drying.

Oven Convection - Features For Drying Food

  • It is a relatively slow way to dry out food.
  • It contains a fan, like a dehydrator, built into it.
  • It is a machine often found in today’s most stable times.
  • However, it is very difficult to maintain a constant temperature, which is necessary to ensure that food does not burn during drying.
  • Therefore, it makes convection ovens less efficient despite the possibility of good quality and guaranteed safety.

Normal oven - Features For Drying Food

  • Drying in a typical kitchen oven is slower than dehydrators.
  • It does not have a built-in airflow fan.
  • It takes about twice as long to dry food in the oven than a dehydration machine.
  • Thus, the oven does not work with the dehydrator and uses more energy.

Advantages of Dried Food

  • Dehydration is an inexpensive way to store food without worrying about botulism.
  • Dry food requires less storage than canned goods.
  • No refrigerator should keep working, so it can be used again.
  • Some of the most common examples of dried foods are powdered milk, fresh coffee beans, etc.

Disadvantages of dried food

  • The process is time consuming. To get the best results from dehydration, you must be patient.
  • The taste and appearance of food may change. If you eat fresh food regularly, dried foods may not be as delicious.
  • It can lead to weight loss. Dehydrated foods appear to be as small in size as water.
  • It has a low amount of nutrients. Since dehydrated food is properly cooked and stored for too long, it can lose its nutrients.

Daya Atreya
19.2.22

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